Nigerien President Issoufou Mahamadou was elected recipient of the 2021 Mo Ibrahim Prize, which annually rewards excellent leadership in Africa.
This prize, which had not been awarded since 2011, was awarded to him for his efforts to improve the economic development of his country, but also for all his actions in favor of regional stability, according to the explanations of the committee which awards the price.
“It was above all his decision not to run for a third term that also distinguished him,” Ms. Aicha Bah Diallo, one of the members and former Minister of Education in Guinea, told RFI.
According to her, “We chose him because he meets the criteria. He was democratically elected in 2011. He was democratically re-elected in 2016, and in 2020 he stepped down, in accordance with the Constitution of Niger. He gave us the opportunity to finally experience, in Niger, after 60 years, a democratic transition “.
At the initiative of the foundation of the Anglo-Sudanese billionaire and entrepreneur Mohamed Ibrahim, this prize, in the amount of five million dollars, financed from his personal fortune, is supplemented by an annual pension for life of 200,000 dollars doubled. if the ex-leader founds a charity.
The first winner of this award, created in 2007, it is recalled, is the former President of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano. Then, it was awarded to the Botswanan Festus Mogae in 2008. In 2009 and 2010, the committee not having identified a candidate to meet its requirements, the prize was not awarded. That of 2011 went to the outgoing President of Cape Verde, Pedro Pires.
